SPARTANS SHINE AT WESTERN CANADA SUMMER GAMES

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Trinity Western University athletes have had an impressive showing thus far at the Western Canada Summer Games as Spartans men’s volleyballer Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.), and his teammate Ben Chow won gold for Team B.C. on the beach while incoming athletes Katelynn Ramage (Nanaimo, B.C.) won gold in the 5000m race walk, setting a meet record in the process, and Hayley Stewart (Surrey, B.C.) came sixth in the long jump with a leap of 5.29m.

Del Bianco, who was Team B.C.’s flag bearer at the opening ceremonies, and Chow went undefeated in five games at the tournament, ultimately beating Alberta 2-0 (21-18, 21-15) in the final. This result came just over a week after an impressive third place finish for the long-time pair at the Center of Gravity pro beach volleyball tournament in Kelowna, B.C.

Ramage, who will join Trinity Western this fall on both the cross country trails and the track, had an impressive showing in Kamloops and will now travel to Boston to represent Canada in a dual meet against the United States.

Stewart, who recently signed with Trinity Western, was well off her personal best jump of 5.69m but still managed a sixth place finish for Team B.C. The graduate of Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary was a bronze medalist in long jump at the most recent B.C. High School Track and Field Championships.

About Spartan AthleticsSince Trinity Western entered the CIS in 1999, Spartan student-athletes have accumulated a number of significant awards including a CIS Athlete of the Year (BLG) award, four CIS Player of the Year awards, a CIS Elite Eight Academic All-Canadian award, three CIS Rookie of the Year awards, a CIS Libero of the Year award, three CIS community service awards and numerous CIS All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star awards. In twelve years as members of the CIS, the Spartans have won six national titles (women’s soccer in 2004, 2008, 2009 and men’s volleyball in 2006, 2011), 15 CIS championship medals, an individual CIS championship in track and seven Canada West championships.

About Canada West Universities Athletic AssociationCanada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 14 schools, from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.

About Canadian Interuniversity SportCanadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.